For those with hard drives stuffed full with samples, soundware, audio clips, field recordings, and whatnot, the Mac-only AudioFinder has long been a gem. But Mac users are likely all addicted to the preview pane in Finder. What if an application could fully integrate audio extras with the file system?

Audio Ease showed off just such a solution at NAMM in the form of something called Soundabout. That was just a basic demo, though: no one but the developers got their hands on the builds. Now the reigning champion AudioFinder has added Finder integration into a new beta:

I’m not sure how these two apps hit with essentially the same feature at once; I’ll leave that for the developers to say. But AudioFinder’s massive feature list could mean it’s the app to beat. AudioFinder’s various tricks are too numerous to list, but some quick items include:

You know what, I’ll just stop before I go on any longer. But the big problem with this has been that you have to load a separate app — now corrected by loading into the Finder directly. And while Soundabout offered Pro Tools integration, you can drag and drop from AudioFinder to any program — ideal for Logic, Live, DP, Peak, and everything else.

The beta is available now; a quick try suggests this app has been really polished and Finder integration should be terrific. But don’t take my word for it: there’s a public link to download. Let us know what you think (and report any bugs to the devs).

We’ll watch for when this gets a final release. Currently, AudioFinder is available in both free and US$69.95 versions.

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